November 25, 1905. 
and put both in a pail of water, the boiling 
of the lime, I suppose, mixing them both to¬ 
gether, and incorporating the soot with the 
water. I do not think this necessary. I 
simply get, say, a 6-in. potful of soot, and 
put in a pail, and syringe water into it until 
incorporated. This will be enough for a 48- 
gallon tub. 
The next time give them a weak dose of 
sheep or cow manure (in solution, of course). 
Every alternate watering should be either soot 
or the other manure for a fortnight or so— 
that is, water one time and feed the next. 
Great care must still be used when watering, 
as some of the plants will want it every day, 
and some will, perhaps, even miss two days ; 
it depends on the robustness of the plant. 
All this time they should be having two 
syringings a day overhead ; in fact, except in, 
wet weather, they should have it until the 
beginning of August ; and always use soot 
water, rather weaker than that which is used 
at the roots. 
When they have had a fortnight of this mild 
treatment, it is time to start feeding in 
earnest—I mean by this they would have 
something stronger. Stop the sheep and cow 
manure now, as it is too mild at this stage. 
Some will say, “ Cannot we give them sheep 
manure stronger than we have been doing? ’ 
To this I say, not without it being too thick to 
pass freely through the soil, and it is essential 
that all manurial waterings be given quite 
I clear, so as not to stop up the air passages. 
It is a necessity to have at least three tubs 
or tanks, two for manure to stand in and one 
for clear water. Put some fowl cr pigeon 
manure in one and the contents of a stable 
tank in the other. See that the fowl manure 
is well dissolved before .using ; also be very 
careful in the use of same, as it is stronger 
: than it appears. Start them off now with the 
stable tub, and next day (most of the plants 
will now be taking it every day, at the same 
I time, use discretion) give them some kind of 
artificial manure, and so on, never giving 
them the same manure twice together. 
Every watering now should be manure, and 
do not be frightened to give them some. Do 
not be led away with the idea that feed the 
colour of weak tea is strong enough. Little 
and often is not enough to grow big blooms ; 
it should be much and often. The patent 
manure we use is Bentley’s No. 2, Little and 
Ballantyne’s fertiliser, and Canary guano. 
We have found these answer very well for the 
I purpose. Read the directions supplied with 
the manure, and start them off with double the 
quantity advised, as the makers generally put 
it little enough. Gradually increase the 
strength of all manures until you are giving 
them as much as they can take* If a weak 
plant or two turns yellow, you will have the 
satisfaction of knowing that the survivors are 
benefiting from it. It is astonishing how 
much feed a ’Mum will take, and enjoy it, as 
it were. 
A few years ago I paid a visit to a large 
grower (and a big winner) just about this time 
when he was feeding. The day I was there 
| he had top-dressed with fine pigeon manure, 
and was watering on top of that with a good 
strong dose of stable stuff. I never recom¬ 
mend top-dressing with manure or patents ; 
T much prefer giving it to them in water ; you 
know then they get it, and it does not stop 
the air. 
To show how much a Chrysanthemum will 
really take, on about 750 plants this year, 
from the beginning of July to now (Septem¬ 
ber), we have used £cwt. Bentley’s, 1121bs. 
Little and Ballantyne’s and a little Canary 
guano, besides the ordinary manures. I only 
mention these facts to show that this Weak 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
tea and little and often motto is like giving an 
old toper ginger pop to make him drunk. 
The feeding should go on at this strength 
until the buds are taken, then gradually de¬ 
crease the strength, as they do not require as 
much then. I am quite aware I am treading 
on very tender ground when I assert this, as L 
know some growers who increase the strength 
when the buds are taken (there are some who 
do not feed at all until the buds are taken— 
needless to say, the latter do not win much). 
Perilaps it may be a bit theoretical, but 
when the bud is taken the plant has prac¬ 
tically finished growing, therefore there is 
not so much call on the roots, and the foliage 
(which should be like spring Cabbages by now, 
only lai'ger on some varieties) feeds the bud. 
The feeding should be kept on after housing, 
at the reduced strength, right up to the finish¬ 
ing of the flower. We never use chemicals 
such as sulphate of ammonia in a raw state, 
as the patent manure is composed chiefly of 
that. 
The most difficult time of watering is when 
the plants have been top-dressed, there being 
no roots in the new soil to take the moisture ; 
the result is, the old soil gets dry long before 
the surface soil. The best guide as to when 
to water at this period is the weather. If dry, 
hot weather—and we generally get it about 
this time—then you may be sure they will 
want it once, if not twice, a day. Do not 
be frightened to water them now, as the pots 
are by this time full of roots; and the chances 
of any going off through over-watering are 
reduced to a minimum. Again, do not on any 
account wait until the pots ring like a bell 
when tapped before watering, because if you 
let them go to that stage they are suffering 
something, and a few roots scorched means 
■ruin to the plant. Another difficult time is 
during a spell of rainy weather. Supposing it 
to have been raining almost continually three 
A USEFUL 
DWARF-GROWING 
EVERGREEN. 
Euomjinu ? radicans 
The value of this dwarf-growing evergreen 
Euonymus for planting in shady places cannot 
be over-estimated, and it is second only to the 
common Ivy for covering ground beneath trees 
where Grass does not grow in a satisfactory 
manner. Nor is it for shady places alone that 
it is of use, for it may be put to a variety of 
purposes, and it behaves well in each case. 
For the front of a shrubbery it makes nice 
groups ; for formal beds in the open ground 
it may be used with advantage ; while for an 
edging to a bed or path, it is almost as good 
as the common Box, while it stands hard 
clipping almost as well. 
It is a Japanese shrub, and is closely re¬ 
lated to the larger-growing E. japonicus. Left 
to itself, it makes' a dense tuft 1ft. to lgft. 
high and as much through. It is rarely, 
though, that it is seen so large, as the usual 
mode of culture is to keep it cut back, or 
to take it up every few years and replant after 
dividing into small pieces. The leaves are 
small, barely an inch long, and deep green. 
Like E. japonicus, it is a very variable shrub, 
and there are numerous well-marked varieties, 
of which the following are most distinct : — 
E.r. Carrierei, a strong growing form, with 
lai'ger and rounder leaves than the type, the 
colour of the foliage varying from green to 
yellow and green ; E.r. foliis pictis, a green 
and white variegated form, of similar growth 
to the type, but more ornamental ; it forms a 
fine carpet, and may also be grown into nice 
007 
or four days, such as we had in August of 
this year ; the plants look wet on the surface 
—in fact, are wet—but underneath are very 
dry. It is impossible for the rain to penetrate 
to any extent into the pot on account of the 
foliage being large, and consequently keeping 
it off the pot. If tapped at this time, the pots 
will generally give out a hollow sound, but 
will not ring, as the wet surface helps to 
deaden the sound ; but, with experience, the 
reader should be able to judge when a good 
watering should be given them. 
Blood as a manure is a capital thing to give 
’Mums, if one is in a position to get it. If 
within reasonable distance of a slaughter¬ 
house, get on the right side of the butcher, 
procure some blood, put in a tub with some 
water, and stir it up to prevent it clotting. 
One application of this will be sufficient each 
week, and should be used with discretion as to 
strength, and also should be used mostly 
before the buds are secured. I have often 
been asked, “ Does overfeeding cause damping 
in the flower ? ” A Chrysanthemum should 
not be having feed very strong when opening, 
therefore the risk of overfeeding is confined to 
the time when the plants are standing out, 
chiefly during July and August, and an over¬ 
fed plant (in fact, all weakly plants, which 
generally look yellowish) should be cut down, 
as it is only a waste of time attending to it. 
Given a nice, diy house, without drip, and 
with a free circulation of air night and daj', 
also the watering always done in the morn¬ 
ing, and very few blooms should damp. 
Another question which troubles some is, 
“ Do incurved varieties require as much feed¬ 
ing as Japs?” I think they do, because the 
incurved varieties of to-day are quite as robust 
as the Japs, therefore should have as much 
feeding; but, in my opinion, it should be 
reduced considerably when the buds are taken. 
T. J. 
little shapely bushes, suitable for beds of 
coloured-leaved shrubs ; E.r. micropliyllus is 
a variety with very tiny green leaves ; and 
E.r. Silver Gem is the most ornamental of all. 
In this the leaves are silver and green, the 
silver predominating. In habit it is inter¬ 
mediate between seme of the forms of E. 
japonicus and E. radicans, the leaves also 
being larger and differing somewhat from E. 
radicans. Instead of dividing this, as is done 
with other forms, it must be increased by 
means of cuttings. With regard to soil, E. 
radicans is by no means fastidious, as it suc¬ 
ceeds in that of a poor, sand} - nature, and 
also- in that of a richer quality. 
W. Dalloiobe. 
100.000 blooms were on view at. the National 
Chrysanthemum Society’s Show at the Crystal 
Palace in the 1st inst. In the fifty-eight, 
classes there were over 250 entries. 
The Boxwoon Thees of Box Hill.— Box 
Hill, Surrey, is named after the Boxwood 
trees wliicli have from time immemorial grown 
with a special luxuriance on this eminence. 
Authorities say that this tree—generally 
classified as a shrub—is indigenous to Surrey. 
Box, indeed, is found from China westward 
to the Atlantic. Old time City of London 
turners worked on this hard, close-grained 
wood brought from Box Hill. It was used 
for blocks by the earliest English wood en¬ 
gravers, until they found that Boxwood, with 
a more extensive, surface, could be imported 
from Turkey. .Just, ninety years ago there 
was a partial clearance of the growth on Box 
Hill. The valuable wood was sold by auction 
and fetched £10.000. 
